


something so small as a song

by milktoast_mcgee



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Awkward Crush, F/M, How Do I Tag, I Seriously Have No Idea How To Tag This, Piano, Singing, Young Love, lunoct valentines weekend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-19 05:15:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29745549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/milktoast_mcgee/pseuds/milktoast_mcgee
Summary: Even then, in the dark hallways of the Manor, when his doubts came to gnaw at him, he could hear Luna's voice.I know you won't fail, she said. I am always here for you, she said. You are so much stronger than you will ever know, she said.He couldn't let her down. He couldn't let his father and all of Lucis down, too, but... but definitely not Luna. He was probably going to screw up everything else, but he had to do something for Luna.He'd seen the piano weeks ago. He had to at least try to do something for her.
Relationships: Lunafreya Nox Fleuret/Noctis Lucis Caelum
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15
Collections: Lunoct Valentine Weekend 2021





	something so small as a song

He had to be quiet.

It was harder than he thought it'd be. Moving around in the wheelchair was difficult enough, but he was determined to keep it quiet. He somehow managed to maneuver himself out of bed and into the chair. The cold, too-big room he stayed in, within the Manor, had a tall window to let in bright, white moonlight. The light taunted him, catching the wrap of bandages around his arm. But he had to move. He had to keep quiet. Dull pain prickled in his arm as he held firm the wheels' grips, but he had to get going.

The Manor always had a pensive quiet Noctis found slightly eerie. Nighttime was no different. The late hour cast the long, long hallways in darkness. The servants' stations were lit with dim lanterns, despite absence at their posts. He made his way deeper into the hall. The wheelchair's every soft, metal groan echoed in the dark. His ears strained for any sign of life ahead, any devout servant or aide ready to catch and fuss over him. 

But he'd been good. He swallowed hard his pain and strained to smile at each nurse through the whole week. They had no reason to worry. They stopped checking on him every hour of the night, though they still asked plenty of questions during the day. He hadn't seen his father in weeks. Noct convinced himself he was okay with that. It was nothing new.

There was Luna.

He felt so stupid when he stumbled over her name. When he asked too many questions from the big, complicated tomes they read together. When she leaned in close beside him, her arm brushing against his, and drew her finger along each line. When she read ancient tongues to him with ease and translated them. When her soft blue eyes met his and she smiled and...

There was Luna.

His arm hurt. His back hurt. Was he really so easily exhausted by moving around? How could someone like that ever, ever hope to be King? Even then, in the dark hallways of the Manor, when his doubts came to gnaw at him, he could hear her voice.

She said that so effortlessly, too. I know you won't fail, she said. I am always here for you, she said. You are so much stronger than you will ever know, she said.

He couldn't let her down. He couldn't let his father and all of Lucis down, too, but... but definitely not Luna. He was probably going to screw up everything else -- no, you won't, said Luna with infinite confidence -- but he had to do something for Luna.

He saw the piano weeks ago. Luna told him it was a prayer room, a small alcove for meditation and reflection. He struggled to push open the heavy doors, nudging himself and the chair against them until they finally gave. The doors creaked a little too loud and he froze. Even if somebody heard it, though, he had to keep going. He slipped into the little room and left the door open a sliver. 

The room matched the others, with its tall windows, stone flooring, and high, arched ceiling. The moonlight lit the room like midday. A small collection of chairs circled the room. Near the window sat the piano. Like everything else in the Manor, it was old and ornate. Intricate swirls and flourishes of metal adorned it. It caught the night's light like a holy artifact. Its keys glittered like the skeleton of some ancient, extinct beast. He swallowed hard. What right did he have to try to play such a thing?

No, he told himself. He had to at least try.

It took some more effort to climb onto the seat before the piano. The moonlight cast his own shadow over the keys. He gently set his fingers upon them and, like anything else in the Manor, they were cold. He looked around. The chairs were empty. The room was bright but hollow. He took a deep breath. He hadn't played the piano in so long, he realized. His lessons were so long ago. Before the attack. But no, no, he couldn't think about that. He was weak enough but he didn't need to--

Luna. He had to think about Luna.

He steadied himself. He gave one of the keys a tentative tap. The little plink rang out in the cold night air. He tried another, but quickly drew his hand back. What would they do if they found him like this, anyway? he wondered. Surely they'd let him play the piano if he wanted to. But he didn't want them to know. No, he didn't want Luna to know. Not until he was ready. Not until it was ready.

His brow furrowed. Though all pianos had their differences, different twangs to their keys, a sharper or smoother twinge to their strings, but they were still pianos. He tried a scale, and another. Despite how soft the keys sounded -- holy, somehow, like chants of a hushed prayer -- each scale sounded like he was back in the Citadel's practice hall. A metronome echoed in his head. Stiff as his fingers were, he could close his eyes and navigate the keys with care.

The notes came to him without him realizing it, at first. To no one's cue, the song began. A simple tune. One he'd played so, so many times before. He could almost see beside him, drenched in moonlight, his mother's long black hair and her gentle smile.

He played something else. He played a piece he practiced over and over and over. A favorite piece of one of the old Kings, his instructor had told him. He maybe didn't pay attention to the rest of the lecture, but he knew the song backwards and forwards. Maybe it was in his blood, the line of Lucian royalty, imbued with unlimited might.

A sour note cut the air. The wrong key. Powerful, the kings were. Graceful, mighty, and brave. He bit his lip. He tried to start again. His fingers tensed further. His arm hurt. His back ached. His legs were numb. None of the Kings were so weak as to be done in by one lowly daemon. None of the Kings struggled to even get out of bed. None of the Kings would be so scared they couldn't get through a single song.

"Don't think that."

Luna. So confident but so gentle, like always. Smiling softly. Her blond hair glittering in the light.

"You are so much stronger than you will ever know, Noctis. I know it, though. I'm sure of it."

He shook his head.

Luna.

He tried to focus on her voice. He closed his eyes and saw her in the sunlight. When the two of them sat in the field of flowers one day, she gazed up at the big blue sky and smiled. It was rare for the Tenebrean sky to be so clear, she said, cloudless and deep blue. Despite a chill in the air, the sun was warm and bright as Luna's smile. She weaved flowers together one by one. Her fingers moved so naturally, so gracefully. She didn't have to look at her work to knit them into a pretty circle of blossoms.

She hummed as she worked. It was an old, old song, she said, going back beyond the first Oracle. It was a lullaby, Luna told him as she inspected her small wreath of flowers. A prayer to guide the weary to rest, to lead them through the night and into the dawn. He heard her hum it another time, and another. Once, he chanced upon her singing in the Manor's gardens, something that, when he found her, made her instantly stop and blush and quickly compose herself.

In the flower field that day, beneath the impossibly blue sky, she set the wreath upon his head. She smiled at him and her eyes gleamed.

"There," she said. "A King needs a crown, doesn't he?"

He remembered how her song went. He struggled to find each note, but her voice in his mind guided him. He ignored the dull burn in his back, the sting in his arm, the stiffness in his fingers. It probably wasn't a special song, he thought. It was another dusty, stuffy prayer, cold and traditional as so many things in Tenebrae. But when he thought of her smile, her setting the crown so gently upon his head, bowing to him with grace and confidence... he had to keep playing. He had to play that song for her. He had to play it perfectly. Even if he could never be a decent King, he could play a song for her.

So, he played. He felt out each note with her voice. He drew the lines in his mind and scribbled in each note. It was stupid. It was going to sound bad. Maybe she'd laugh. Maybe she'd pity him like everyone else did -- but no, it was Luna. She smiled at him and believed in him. He couldn't quite get the song right. He knew he didn't have all of it. Some parts he had to make up, but they couldn't come together. He paused and frowned and cursed himself, but he kept trying. It was only when he realized he was being watched he froze altogether.

Sharp golden eyes gazed up at him. Umbra's fur was black even in the pouring moonlight. The dog -- a divine messenger, rather, Noctis had to remind himself -- approached the seat of the piano slowly. Umbra nudged to Noctis's side and the prince couldn't help but chuckle. He pet his dark fur with both hands and sighed.

"Don't tell anyone, okay? I'm... working on something for..."

A quiet yip emanated from the open door. He caught sight of Pryna first, but his smile evaporated when he saw Luna with her. The fairer dog padded lightly into the room, her fur brighter than even the moonlight. Luna remained at the door, though. As much as Noctis waned to look away from her, to hide, he couldn't stray from her eyes. He shifted uneasily where he sat.

"O-oh. Uhh..."

Umbra remained at his side while Pryna gave pause and looked back to her companion. She gave a muted whine, her tail swaying. Noctis couldn't move. Even when Umbra nudged him with his nose, trying to coax the prince to pet him again, he was still. He couldn't hear anything but his own heart and dumb, useless notes pounding in his head. When he managed to blink, to breathe again, he managed a dumb laugh.

"S-sorry, I w-whh, I was just, uh..."  
"Noctis..."

Pryna joined Luna at her side, but the girl wouldn't move. The dim hallway cast her in shadow, but Noctis met her eyes. Her expression was hard to place. Not her confident, graceful, knowing smile. Instead, it was something almost sad, thoughtful, and heavy. The young prince finally tore away his eyes. He looked instead to the window and folded his hands in his lap, hopefully leaving the piano unharmed. But then, he heard her slow, gentle footsteps.

"Please," she said softly, "keep playing...?"

As she stepped into the moonlight, her voice was small, fragile. The night bathed her in white. In her nightgown, with her light hair down, she grew angelic, a figure from beautiful ancient paintings or illuminated script. A deep sadness found her eyes. She tried to smile before she spoke again, her voice nearly lost to the night.

"...i-if you like."

Noctis looked to Umbra for help. The messenger gazed up at him with his wise, golden eyes. If he could talk, Noctis thought in a panic, it would really have helped him then. Pryna, meanwhile, stayed close to the girl's side. She nuzzled against one of Luna's arms, frozen at her sides, as if to draw her back to the cold, quiet room. Umbra did the same to Noctis, and the words tumbled out of the prince at once.

"Itsforyou!"

Cold as the room was, his face burned suddenly. He turned his gaze again to the window. His voice echoed throughout the room for ages -- or maybe it simply bounced around inside his head. But as he swallowed hard, tried to steady his racing heart, he gripped his knees and forced himself to meet her eyes again.

"I, uh." He bit his lip and said each word one by one, like soldiers sent into battle. "I wanted to play. A song. For you. I. Guess."

Luna.

He shook his head. He had to keep going. He shut his eyes tight. No matter how much his hands fought him and his fingers trembled, they found the cold keys of the piano once more.

"I wanted to practice, b-but, I, just--"

At first, none of the notes sounded right. His fingers didn't want to move. But he kept going. He focused hard on her voice, the sun finding her face, her smile. He felt her hands placing the crown of flowers on his head, her flustered face in the garden, the blue of her eyes bluer than any sky. His hands stopped fighting him. The pain evaporated from his arm, from his back. He could keep playing. He kept playing for her.

Luna believed in him, and Luna... Luna deserved at least something so small as a song.

Soon, he stopped. Pryna whined softly. When Noctis managed to open his eyes, terror washed over him like the moonlight. Luna had her face turned away from him. Tears glittered in her eyes. She had her hand drawn to her mouth, but when she blinked, the tears crept down her face. Before Noct could panic, Umbra nuzzled his side. His gold eyes looked to the prince, and to Luna. Coaxed by the messenger, Noctis reached out to her with a stiff, unsteady hand.

"O-oh, no, Luna," his voice almost failed him. "I, I'm sorry!"

Luna nearly fell forward. Her arms wrapped around him. Noctis froze. Her head nestled against his shoulder, he could feel the heat of her tears. Her own shoulders trembled. When he remembered his own hands, he slowly, carefully embraced her in return. Luna didn't make a sound. She buried her face in his shirt and was quiet for a long, long while. Noctis's ears burned as he listened for echoes of just how badly he'd played for her. When her breathing steadied, she emerged from hiding slowly. Her arms loosened around him, but she didn't let go.

"No, it's lovely," she said. The bright moonlight couldn't hide the overwhelming emotion in her eyes. "...it's absolutely lovely."

Noctis frowned at her as he looked to the offending piano. "Then, why are you crying?"

Despite the tears still shining in her eyes, she smiled. "It's been a very long time since I've heard that song. I thought I'd forgotten it."

"You hum it sometimes," Noct told her. "You, um. Sing it sometimes, too."

Luna giggled. Her smile gained strength, became more like hers again. "Right, you caught me singing that day, after all."

Noctis swallowed hard, mindful of her arms still tight around him. "Well. Yeah. I wanted to try and. Uh. Play it for you."

She drew her arms from him. She stood beside him at the seat and met him with curious eyes. "Why?"

"I, you..." The young prince tried to shrug. "Um. I dunno."

She laughed. Her voice alone could warm the cold, quiet room. She patted the space beside him on the seat, and he carefully moved to allow her to sit. Both messengers sat to the seat's either side, their mysterious eyes eager to watch. Luna drew her fingers along the keys as she shook her head.

"It sounds so wonderful when you play it."

Noct nearly choked. "Wh-what? I barely know how it goes! I wanted to figure it out and practice after, y'know. After I maybe. Heard you sing it. More."

Luna eyed him carefully, but her smile was warm and genuine. "Is that so?"

The young prince shrugged again. "I-I dunno..."

"Noctis," she said softly, her hand finding his. She guided him back to the keys with a nod. "May I listen to you play a little longer...?"

"R-right," Noct replied, nodding quickly. Though his hands found the keys again, he cleared his throat and met her eyes. "You, um."

"Hm?"

"You can sing. If you wanna."

The moonlight illuminated the deep pink in Luna's face, her girlish smile, her eyes bright like the midday sky. She laughed and Noctis's face burned a little more. Nestling close to him on the seat, she nodded. She folded her hands together and kept her eyes on Noctis's fingers at the piano's keys. Her voice was soft and sweet.

"I would love to."

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY LUNOCT VALENTINES WEEKEND I love these two and they definitely deserve more soft pleasant times together ;m; I have another fic I'm cooking up too so hopefully I can post that tomorrow, huhuhuhu. I think both he and Luna have trouble opening up to people and sharing their feelings... so they deserve to share their feelings with each other. LET LUNOCT BE SOFT AND NICE OK SQUENIX WHY
> 
> a disclaimer - I don't play piano nor do I use a wheelchair! if there are any glaring issues with my portrayal of either, please please please let me know! ;3; thank you for reading my dudes


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